About Us

Join Us

Start making plans to attend the Fifth National Asian American Theater Conference & Festival (ConFest). A week of performances, panel discussions, plenary and breakout sessions, new play readings, parties, networking and more. Hosted by Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ashland, October 1-9, 2016. Sign up below for updates on the 2016 ConFest.

Who We Are

The Consortium of Asian American Theaters & Artists (CAATA) envisions a strong and sustainable Asian American theater community that is an integral presence in national culture—evocative of our past, declarative of our present, and innovative towards our future. Our mission is to advance the field of Asian American theater through a national network of organizations and artists. We collaborate to inspire learning and sharing of knowledge, and resources to promote a healthy, sustainable artistic ecology.

As a collective of Asian American theater leaders and artists, we bring together local and regional leaders to work nationally toward our shared values of social justice, artistic diversity, cultural equity and inclusion. We hold national conferences and festivals biennially in different parts of the country, reaching as wide a range of Asian American populations and communities as possible. We survey Asian American theater artists and organizations to find out their foremost concerns. We form alliances with other theater groups of different affinities to advance mutual goals cooperatively and to exchange ideas and strategies.

Our History

In September 2003, six Asian American theater companies attended a convening sponsored by Theater Communications Group. The companies— Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, East West Players, Ma-Yi Theater, the National Asian American Theatre Company (NAATCO), Second Generation, and Mu Performing Arts— began discussions to hold the first National Asian American Theater Conference. Spearheaded by Tim Dang of East West Players, “Next Big Bang: The First Asian American Theater Conference” took place in Los Angeles in June 2006.

The first National Asian American Theater Festival took place June 2007 in New York City, featuring over 25 performing artists and companies. Conferences and Festivals have since been hosted in Minneapolis, New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. The next combined Conference and Festival will be hosted by Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon, on October 1-9, 2016.

Executive Director, Pork Filled Productions (Seattle, WA)

Tisa Chang

Mia Katigbak

Artistic Producing Director, NAATCO (New York, NY)

Jorge Ortoll

Executive Director, Ma-Yi Theater (New York, NY)

Gladys Chen

President, Second Generation (2g) (New York, NY)

Stefanie Wong Lau

Founder, Artists at Play (Los Angeles, CA)

Joan Osato

Producing Director, Youth Speaks, Inc. (San Francisco, CA)

The national gatherings organized by CAATA are an opportunity for theatre practitioners of all backgrounds, experiences and disciplines to come together and imagine what Asian American theatre can and should be.

- Stefanie Lau, Artists at Play

CAATA shows the nation that Asian American theater artists are an integral part of the cultural tapestry of the nation.

- Jorge Ortoll, Ma-Yi Theater Company

CAATA has rallied Asian American theater artists and professionals to dive headfirst into the deep, challenging conversations that surround what it means to be engaged in American theater as a person of color.